We all know them: Aestheticized images of architectural architecture, including perfectly coordinated interiors with spacious residential and living environments. And let’s be honest: Aren’t we sometimes green with envy when we browse through these magazines? At any rate, I like to pick them up because the magazines give me the chance to spend moments in other rooms and times, just like watching a good film. These kinds of highly stylised images are an expression of real interior design - a way of life mostly reserved for a few, however.

These are exactly the questions we're exploring in IKEA's digital magazine Life at Home: The articles are devoted to interior design in which the traces of everyday life become visible. These are designs that can reinvent themselves again and again because they adapt to the current needs of their participants and reflect the individuality of personalities and life concepts in equal measure. The "home visit" section shows how different these can be. The articles provide a richly illustrated insight into the most varied living situations - from retirement homes to alpine huts, from collectors' worlds to caravan life.

There’s no doubt that interior design is strongly influenced by social trends. In his articles, the author and journalist Oliver Herwig reveals the pointed and entertaining tendencies that shape the spaces we live in. For instance, in a recently published article, he asks why so many people want to furnish their home like a hotel room.

Together with our authors, we decide what we’re going to focus on in the digital magazine. In your articles, essays and reports you’re free to express your observations, because journalistic independence is part of a democratic way of life. This is a cornerstone of our society. A society with a wide variety of lifestyles, which understands the opportunity to do so as an expression of true democracy.

A panorama of lifestyles and residential arrangements with analyses of the influences that make our houses a focal point between home, work space and place of longing: These are the topics that make up the framework for Life at Home, the digital interior design magazine.

Ola Rune: It was very open, we were allowed to do what we wanted. The idea was to investigate the material. The aim is to show that this material works.

SK: How did you approach this project?

Eero Koivisto: You can see from the design that we are architects. We have interpreted the material from an architectural perspective. The idea of the shelving is pretty close to this. Thanks to the refinement of the boards, you can almost draw lines in the third dimension with them. We were inspired by a very specific building, the «Bibliothèque Nationale» by Dominique Perrault. This library was already a reference point in an art project, which we were involved in last year. And now shelving has been developed from this.

SK: What fascinated you particularly about this building?

Ola Rune: The proportions of the façade grid. We transferred the verticality of the grid to the shelving. This shape is rather unusual but also practical. It means it doesn’t need any bookends. These sections can also be used for objects because a lot of people don’t have books any more.

SK: What are the special features of this shelving?

Eero Koivisto: It’s thought of as free-standing shelving and a room divider as there are also sections on the rear. The depth brings stability. There are also minor details such as the slightly indented side walls with every second section.

SK: How did you use the colours?

Mårten Claesson: There are currently four colours for the boards. However, in the middle they are all white, which is why we also selected white as the main colour and placed the colour towards the back where you can’t see the white core of the boards.

SK: What is the importance of this design within your work?

Eero Koivisto: This product is not only beautiful from a visual and tactile perspective, but the whole idea behind it is too. It exudes positivity, which is why we wanted to be part of this story.

SK: What is the potential of such a material?

Eero Koivisto: It’s huge, but manufacturers have to be convinced first. New production processes are also required for it, which is complicated. We also don’t know yet how the material will age. With our design we hope to help increase awareness of this product.

SK: Do you regard architecture and design as separate worlds?

Ola Rune: No. Previously these two areas were strongly linked and we also wanted to achieve this from the start of our collaboration. This combination has a tradition in Scandinavia. Furniture was the natural expansion of architecture.

Furniture from old fabric: Old clothes and production left-overs from the textile industry are now being re-used in Denmark in a new material, the so-called «Solid Textile Board». lifeathome.ch talked to Claesson Koivisto Rune, who have developed innovative shelving from it.